Public Records

Recent allegations of municipal workers stealing money in South Whitehall and Wilson and state bureaucrats playing fast with Turnpike cash show why it's important for citizens to keep an eye on their government. You can let your public officials know you're watching by attending public meetings and reviewing government documents. Two state laws, the Sunshine Law and the Right-to-Know Law , entitle us to that access. But those laws frequently are subject to new interpretation, often following judicial decisions.

A contractor and an inspector have been charged with the theft of $3.6 million from the state Department of Transportation in an ongoing investigation of the agency's district covering the five counties in southeastern Pennsylvania, Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane announced Thursday. Kane said her office began its investigation of PennDOT District 6 in March 2013, and that the charges announced Thursday were recommended by a grand jury. In a statement, her office said Thanh Nguyen, 62, who has received $26 million in contracts for PennDOT maintenance since 2009, stole the funds with the assistance of Robert Slamon, a PennDOT consultant.

By Bill Schackner and Mary Niederberger, Of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | July 28, 2014

When Ron Tomalis stepped aside as state education secretary 14 months ago, he landed what seemed like a full-time assignment in a state struggling to boost college access and curb ever-rising tuition prices. As special adviser to Gov. Tom Corbett for higher education, Tomalis was tasked with "overseeing, implementing and reviewing" the recommendations made by the Governor's Advisory Commission on Postsecondary Education. Despite the state's fiscal crisis, the former secretary was allowed to keep his Cabinet-level salary of $139,542 plus benefits and - initially, at least - work from home.

By Bill Schackner and Mary Niederberger, Of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | July 28, 2014

When Ron Tomalis stepped aside as state education secretary 14 months ago, he landed what seemed like a full-time assignment in a state struggling to boost college access and curb ever-rising tuition prices. As special adviser to Gov. Tom Corbett for higher education, Tomalis was tasked with "overseeing, implementing and reviewing" the recommendations made by the Governor's Advisory Commission on Postsecondary Education. Despite the state's fiscal crisis, the former secretary was allowed to keep his Cabinet-level salary of $139,542 plus benefits and - initially, at least - work from home.

State law is specific about police department information that should be available to the public and press. But too many police departments still aren't clued in. Or, they don't want to cooperate. A survey conducted in February by 51 news organizations and coordinated by the Associated Press included more than 200 municipal and state police agencies. About 60 percent, according to an AP story Monday, provided either immediate access to their blotters or other information about recent calls.

For years, The Morning Call, has supported state laws that make public records available to anyone who wishes to access them -- transparency that is important to a healthy democratic system. Even though the state has the Right to Know Law and the Sunshine Act, they need improvement. With that goal in mind, the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association has begun a new campaign that encourages all Pennsylvania residents to participate. It's on the Internet in the form of a blog. The Web site, www.passopenrecords.

By Bill Bachenberg, Special to The Morning Call - Freelance | August 9, 2007

On July 29, the Whitehall municipal building was ablaze, the suspected cause a lightning strike; but did lightning strike twice, at least symbolically? There was fire, smoke, and water damage, but the secondary damage to the township's ability to serve the people of Whitehall can be the far more significant impact. We were pleased to see, first and foremost, no one was hurt and that the township of Whitehall took measures to protect files through the use of fireproof cabinets; but fireproof cabinets are not necessarily always waterproof and work in progress is not always in the fireproof cabinets -- especially work being done on desktop computers.

by JACK KRAFT And DAVID WASHBURN, The Morning Call | February 19, 1995

Pennsylvanians with home computers can tap into the federal government to read President Clinton's speech at Kutztown University or retrieve the average age of Bethlehem residents. Try something like that on the state level and the screen comes up blank. About 30 percent of U.S. households have computers. With a computer and a modem, which hooks into telephone lines, people can get information on the workings of government to which they previously had little or no access. They can search Federal Reserve records to track mortgage lending in their community, download photos from NASA's latest mission, and in 42 states they can read pending legislation on-line.

From now on, anyone wishing to view public records in Williams Township must give "reasonable" advance notice in writing and signed by the person making the request. The amount of time considered reasonable and the charges will be left up to the township's secretary/treasurer. Procedures for viewing and copying public records were established last night by township supervisors in response to a recent surge in requests. After a group of township residents had trouble getting to see a list of documents they asked for, they asked Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli to intervene.

By TIM DEMETER, (A free-lance story for The Morning Call) | October 26, 2000

You can see public records in Springfield Township, but you're going to pay for it. At a meeting this month, township supervisors added a fee of $20.10 per hour to any request for public documents. The fee is necessary to cover the cost to the taxpayers for the time of the official keeper of township records, according to the text of the amendment. According to solicitor James McNamara, the figure of $20.10 per hour is based on the salary and benefits of Barbara Smith, who is the township secretary and custodian of records.

The Pennsylvania Office of Open Records told the Public Utility Commission Wednesday that it can't keep secret the documents it used to reach a $60,000 settlement with PPL Electric Utilities over its response to a freak October 2011 snowstorm. The autumn storm knocked out power to 388,000 PPL customers, some for days. The Morning Call appealed to the Office of Public Records in October after the PUC denied a request for investigative records relating to the settlement, including an anonymous tip letter that prompted its investigation.

Recent allegations of municipal workers stealing money in South Whitehall and Wilson and state bureaucrats playing fast with Turnpike cash show why it's important for citizens to keep an eye on their government. You can let your public officials know you're watching by attending public meetings and reviewing government documents. Two state laws, the Sunshine Law and the Right-to-Know Law , entitle us to that access. But those laws frequently are subject to new interpretation, often following judicial decisions.

The father and stepmother of Edward Snowden, the man who said he leaked news of the government's classified surveillance program, live in Upper Macungie Township and were visited Monday afternoon by two people who identified themselves as FBI agents. Karen Snowden, 48, said the couple had been "bombarded" by media, including ABC's "Good Morning America," since the story broke Sunday. Her husband, Lonnie Snowden, 52, briefly spoke to ABC News on Sunday, saying he had last seen his son months ago for dinner and the two parted with a hug. The elder Snowden told the network he was still "digesting and processing" the news about his son. Edward Snowden revealed himself to the British newspaper The Guardian as the person responsible for outlining the U.S. National Security Agency's practice of monitoring Americans' calls, emails and Internet usage.

Pennsylvania residents can read the email of elected officials under a decision in favor of The Morning Call recently upheld by the state Supreme Court. In January, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court ordered Easton Area School District to turn over a month's worth of email messages to and from the official email addresses of school board members, the superintendent and the district's general email address. The court found that emails to and from individual members of the school board are records of the school district's activities under the state's Right to Know Law. The Supreme Court's decision last week not to reconsider the case means that the Commonwealth Court opinion will apply to similar cases in the future.

Perkasie Police Department is investigating the report of a missing 70-year-old Sellersville man. The family of Gunther Schneider reported him missing after finding his vehicle at his residence but no sign of him. According to public records, Schneider lives in the 600 block of Main Street. Anyone who may seen Schneider or had contact with him since July 31 is asked to call Perkasie Police Department at 215-257-6876. Police released no other information about Schneider. Tracy Jordan

Last week's release of a city video showing an Allentown police officer shooting a high school student with a stun gun may have you wondering if you can obtain footage from the surveillance camera on your corner. The answer is no, at least not by using the state's Right-to-Know Law. The state Office of Open Records recently ruled the city can withhold videos for security purposes. The ruling was in response to an appeal filed by a city man, Joseph Cap, who had used the Right-to-Know Law to request footage from two cameras in his neighborhood for a 35-minute period in July.

It is a good day today to remember that the Pennsylvania Legislature needs to complete a task it began earlier this year that will serve good government. Today happens to be the 45th anniversary of the last time Pennsylvania passed a law dealing with the right of reporters and citizens to examine public documents at all levels of government. The 1957 legislation, however, was not a strong law, at least not from the perspective of citizens. If there were disagreements about what was public, it put the burden of challenging official secrets on those trying to get the information.

Remember this the next time you're stuck in voicemail hell or put on eternal hold when seeking help from the federal agencies entrusted with your tax dollars - the government has set a goal of providing service to the public that matches or exceeds the service provided by the private sector. When you're done laughing, if you're wondering how the feds measure up, the Government Accountability Office wondered, too. Its recent review found, as you'd expect, there's room for improvement.

Two key elements of Pennsylvania's Right-to-Know law are under legislative attack. The law, which I've told you about extensively, was updated last year to make it easier for people to get documents that show how their governments are behaving and how they are spending public money. As you'd expect, some governments say it's been a strain handing over all those records. They've persuaded a few state lawmakers to propose amendments to the law, which, if passed, could deter people from asking for information they are entitled to — by requiring them to pay for it. One of the principles of the Right-to-Know law is that someone asking for records does not have to explain why they want the information, or what they intend to do with it. If it's public, it's public, no questions asked.